Insects and arachnids can have serious negative effects on the quality of human life. Firstly, when found in the home such pests can be a source of annoyance purely due to their presence and they can also spread disease. Secondly, on plants and crops these pests can destroy foliage and adversely affect plant growth reducing yields of crops and their quality. They can decrease the aesthetic value of ornamental plants.
A broad range of organic molecules have been found to be toxic to insects and arachnids and are used for their control. However, with such molecules there is significant concern of damage to the environment and adverse effects on humans. Several of the compounds used in insect control are only slowly biodegraded or are non-biodegradable, In many cases insects develop immunity to the use of some types of insecticides making them useless for long term use.
Therefore there is a real need to provide insecticides which are safe in the environment and non-toxic to humans and animals, which are rapidly biodegradable and to which insects do not become immune after long term use.
While surfactants have long been used as adjuvants for other pesticides, they are not generally known to provide insecticidal activity of their own. Thus surfactants are often used as spreader stickers to enhance the activity of fungicides. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,716 (Winston) describes the use of sulfosuccinate surfactants in combination with other anionic surfactants to promote the activity of bicarbonates in controlling fungi on plants. However, there is no suggestion that such materials will be effective in controlling insects.